Wednesday, September 16, 2009

I finally had some time to cook today and made a fantastic soup I will tell you more about later. Soups are great! With all the fall veggies, now is the time to make big batches of soup and freeze it all for lunches or easy weekday dinners. They go great with biscuits, a salad or grilled cheese sandwich.

OK, let's talk about what I ate today.

Toast and grapefruit juice from home
This was eaten at 1am. Late night snack or very, very early breakfast? YOU decide!

Cheese from home, banana and juice from the bistro (free)
A.K.A. Second Breakfast

German candy Ellen brought to the office - free
These are pretty cute. They represent the walk/don't walk signs you find on street corners in Germany. Tasty, too.

Couscous, mushroom salad, lemonade and clafoutis pie from the bistro - free
I was somebody's "Buddy" at work today. That means I had the task to welcome a new employee and help make her few first days go smoothly. As a thank you, Sid Lee gives out two free bistro tickets to encourage us to have a meal with our new buddy. Fun! Thanks Sid Lee! And lucky me, today was couscous day. It's one of the best meals our chefs make and it is hotter than hell.

Biscuit from the bistro
We just launched a new site for Philadelphia Cheese and these one-bowl biscuits are one of the recipes you can learn how to prepare there. So the bistro chefs decided to make a batch and we got to try them. They are very good! There was a pile of leftovers, so I brought some home to try with my soup tomorrow. The biscuits were also delicious with the last of my mousse. This is pretty much proof that bringing back work at home can be fun! Heh.

Dinner was panko-crusted lemon chicken with spinach

Handful of Reese Chipits
These are delicious. I bought them to make cookies. I should not have open the bag as now I am doomed to eat the whole thing within the week. Maybe I should freeze it.

Homemade cream of celery soup with bacon
Yes, I ate soup after dessert. I made a big batch and could not resist having a bowl. It is so yummy - and easy to prepare. The bacon gives it a nice salty kick. The recipe can be found on Apartment Therapy's food and cooking zone.

Money spent on food

From August 24th, 2009 to August 24th 2010, I photographed everything I ate and made notes of the cost.

This included all the food and drink costs for the year.

And yes, I counted booze.

Grand total: $10 295.92

What is this blog about?

This is not a food blog.

Well, it kind of is. But mainly, it’s about the amount of money I use to feed myself, day after day. Why? Because I just don’t know. I (almost) never check prices when I buy food. I love to cook and I can easily feed six guests for less than 30 bucks (wine is extra, people), but I also spend ungodly amounts of money on grocery, then throw away a fifth of it. It has never been so easy to buy good food, but it often comes at a price. And it is even easier to buy cheap, unhealthy junk food that has an undeniable cost on our health. Where does my food budget go? How do the choices I make impact my budget, my health and the health of the planet?